Community in an uproar over dog's death

TAMAQUA, PENNSYLVANIA — Police officer Scott Michalesko thought he was being humane one cold January evening when he shot and killed Whiskers, a 15-year-old schnauzer that had been hit by a car.

Not everyone agrees. The dog's outraged owner complained, residents questioned Michalesko's judgment, and his superiors began an investigation. A few weeks after Whiskers' death, the dog was exhumed for the animal version of an autopsy.

After a series of disciplinary hearings, township officials concluded Michalesko had acted recklessly and fired him. Whiskers' owner is preparing a lawsuit.

Now the veteran police officer is suing to get his $14.42-an-hour job back in a case his attorney calls "ridiculous" and "bizarre."

"It was 4 degrees out, the dog was pretty much freezing and wasn't able to move, and [Michalesko] just used his best judgment," said the attorney, David Washington.

Whiskers' owner, Nancy Meiser, thinks otherwise. She points to a necropsy report that showed the dog to be in perfectly good health when Michalesko shot him. The officer should have tried harder to find the dog's owner--or at least taken him to an animal hospital, she said.